A Tough September has the Mariners in Disbelief. 

An exceptional year ended with anger in the Seattle Mariners clubhouse after a loss to the Texas Rangers on September 30th. In a year in which the Mariners had a lot of potential throughout the summer, they fell short with a losing record in September. In late August, Seattle held on to at least an American League Wild Card playoff spot. But by the end of September, they had dropped from 1st to 3rd in the American League West. 

Center fielder Julio Rodriguez had a batting average of .429 during their 21-win August. That dropped by a whopping 50% by September to 215. As you see in the graph above, the Mariners struggled throughout September, something that always seems to happen to the franchise.

While Rodriguez was hot and cold this year, catcher Cal Raleigh might be the Mariners’ most underrated played. This year, throughout 513 at-bats, Raleigh got on base 119 times. That includes 30 home runs, including five in September. 

Through it all, it was a terrible ending for Seattle. At one point being first in their division, they finished third as their division rival, Texas Rangers, went on to the World Series for the first time. Meanwhile, to read more about 2023 MLB Postseason Baseball, check out our other articles in sports!